Sometimes, it takes constant hurt, repetitive directives, and lessons learned after several “trials and errors” for one to make a decisive productive decision in life.
As a child, I was very careless, playful, and carefree. Hence, I was always having home accidents, always being rushed to the hospital and always carrying Plaster of Paris (POP) back home. I can recall 7 times when I was rushed to the hospital for having a fractured arm.
My parents were strict, disciplined, and intentional. I have elder siblings who were also mini-carers, yet I couldn’t stop being the careless child that everybody warns every minute of the day.
How did I stop? I learned the hard way and advised myself. I had a different dimension of accident, a hot oil burn and my parents were not around to run the usual helter-skelter.
It happened in November 1996. I was frying plantain and playing with my younger ones. The handle of the frying pan was facing me. Carelessly, I hit my hand on the handle, the frying pan bounced towards me and before I could run, the whole hot oil poured on my right leg. It was my first experience with hot oil and the pain was entirely different. Helplessly, I rushed to the kitchen towel and wiped it, my skin got scraped immediately. I screamed and cried my eyes out. Our neighbour was alerted, she came and poured salt on the scraped surface, and that worsened it. The pain became excruciating. I was rushed to the hospital where I lost my voice crying. The healing process was long, so painful, and very inconvenient. I couldn’t bath properly for weeks.
I still have the scars of that burn up to today. That accident gave me a lifetime scar and it quickened my resolve to be calm, to play less, and to be more careful.
This video reminded me of that accident and the punishment I got for not listening to the constant warnings and advice of my parents.
Parenting is a ceaseless and relentless practice and it takes consistency and repetitions to raise a wholesome child. Some children are more easygoing than others. Some require more skills and effort.
This is to remind parents not to give up if their child is proving hard to hear or to take corrections. Be persistent, be repetitive, with time that phase will be over.
Some people get more than scars due to their carelessness as children. Maybe an amputation, blindness, deafness, loss of a tooth, a finger, and so on. This becomes a lifetime deformity filled with regrets.
Therefore, repetition is a crucial part of parenting. No child hears and obeys instructions at once. Don’t give up. Keep talking, keep reprimanding, keep correcting, keep advising, and if yelling works for you, do so before it’s too late. Any parent who tells you raising a child is easy, is probably stingy with the truth. It takes constant talking and acting to get it right.
To children and young ones, learn from the mistakes of others. Don’t wait till there’s a scar to do it right. Your parents are not too repetitive, they’re only shielding you from harm and from making some mistakes that have lifelong regrets.
“There are some things you MUST NEVER DO because you can’t take them back”
✍️ Amara Ann Unachukwu
